Battle of Owari Fields (1545)

The Battle of Owari Fields (summer 1545) was a battle of the Sengoku Period. An invading 600-strong Tokugawa clan army under daimyo Hirotada Tokugawa and general Hidenaga Matsudaira was faced by a larger Oda army of 1,009 troops under daimyo Nobuhide Oda and his general Muneyori Takayama. The result of the battle was 291 losses for the Oda (including Muneyori) and 515 Tokugawa losses, including both of their leaders.

Background
The Oda clan entered the Sengoku Period on the wrong foot: they were not only faced by the hostile Saito of Mino Province to the north and the Tokugawa/Matsudaira/Imagawa clan to the south in Mikawa Province, but they also faced a rebel army under Tametomo Oda. The forces loyal to Oda daimyo Nobuhide Oda under Muneyori Takayama decimated the rebels and proceeded to head back to their castle to replenish their troops. However, the Tokugawa daimyo Hirotada Tokugawa and his general Hidenaga Matsudaira led an army of 600 troops into southern Owari Province in the hopes of taking over. 1,009 Oda troops under Nobuhide Oda and Muneyori Takayama headed south, where they confronted the invading army.

Battle
The 1,009 Oda troops took up positions in a line on a plain in dry summer weather, while the 600 Tokugawa troops took up positions in a similar manner on the other side of the plain, with a group of trees dividing them from the line-of-sight of the Oda army. Nobuhide Oda waited for minutes to see if the Tokugawa would go on the offensive, but they refused to leave their positions. As a result, Nobuhide was forced to move his army forwards to fight the Tokugawa on their terms.

The Oda army divided into three groups to attack the three units of Tokugawa troops in the front. Each Oda group was at least two-units thick, and the flank groups were each led by an Oda general. The Tokugawa army was compact in a square, and they did not attempt to form a line-of-battle. The Oda army easily overran Tokugawa lines, with their superior Ashigaru units triumphing over the weaker Tokugawa infantrymen. The two Tokugawa commanders were killed in battle with the Oda as they fought and died warriors' deaths, but Muneyori was killed leading the pursuit of fleeing Tokugawa troops through the forests on horseback. His death was tragic for the Oda, but they damaged the Tokugawa clan beyond repair. Shortly after their victory, the Oda proceeded to invade Mikawa Province and capture Okazaki Castle with only 2 dead, and the Tokugawa clan was quelled. In the aftermath, the Oda were able to focus on the Saito to the north to continue their expansion.